Happy New Year! I wish I had enough paper to write about all the things I have been up to lately. I finished my degree in Human Services, Community health, and Nutrition at the University of Northern Colorado in December of 2010. I then worked at Minnesota Teen Challenge for three months, writing and teaching a new fitness and nutrition curriculum for the women’s program. Following my time there I completed the pre-requisite courses I needed to begin a nursing program, and started at Gustavus Adolphus College last September. I will be finished this upcoming May and take my boards to become a Registered Nurse! Throughout this journey I have developed many passions. I love learning about the body, health and disease, and how environmental factors and social factors affect health of populations. I have had the opportunity to teach many different groups of people about nursing and other various health topics like the essentials of community health, health careers, stress reduction and relaxation, and epidemiology. Last summer I conducted research at a pilot Summer Institute of Nursing camp, and will be presenting that research this spring at two different conferences in Wisconsin and Chicago. I also spent a month and a half providing nursing care and education projects in Fairbanks and Barrow, Alaska. I feel so blessed to be able to participate in what I am passionate about.
This year I have the wonderful opportunity to participate in my first mission trip to Haiti in June. For so long I have desired to travel outside the States to see what healthcare is like in other countries. There will be a small team of us partnering with Healing Haiti, a nonprofit organization founded in 2006, to serve the poorest of the poor in and near Port au Prince. This organization is doing incredible humanitarian work for the poor, orphaned, and widowed. God is doing great things in Haiti as well! It is exciting to know that I can be a part of it. We will be flying from Minneapolis to Port-au-Prince on June 17 and returning June 24. This will allow us a week to serve and care for the poor. During the week we anticipate serving in several ways, such as delivering water to Cite Soleil, the largest slum in the Western Hemisphere. We will also be caring for children at orphanage sites, Grace Village and OrphanCare. We will also work with the elderly through the ElderCare program and Meals on Wheels. We will stay at a local site and get firsthand experience of the culture.
Our team will be meeting in preparation for this trip. I will learn how to share the news of God’s love and will be trained in servant hood, teamwork, and effective ministry. I am excited to learn more about Haiti and how God will use my gifts to serve Him. As God has made so many opportunities to me thus far, I believe that God has called me to be part of this mission trip, and I am inviting you to be part of this adventure with me. My desire is to enlist as many people as I can who will pray with me faithfully through my training and time there. There is also an opportunity to be a part of my personal financial support team. The trip cost is estimated at $1,650, and I will pay this through contributing myself and through donations. I am trusting that God will provide me with the money I need to go! I’ve enclosed a response card and a return envelope. If you would be interested in supporting me through prayer and/or financial donation, I would love to hear from you! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to read about this opportunity and for prayerfully considering your involvement in my support team!
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